LA MoCA: Two Suitors, No Decision

The New York Times‘s Ed Wyatt has owned the LA MoCA story almost from the beginning. Here he informs us that the board faces a decision even though they seem reluctant to act:

“The fact that there are two viable options is a miracle, particularly given the economic climate,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, a Los Angeles County supervisor whose district includes the county museum but who said he did not favor either offer.

“The concern in the art community is that the issue be resolved productively and sustainably,” he said. “Everybody needs to put their swords at the door and do what is in the best interest of Los Angeles and guarantee the accessibility of the art to the public of Los Angeles.”

It is not clear whether the museum’s trustees will make a decision on Thursday. Early in the week people close to the board said that they were relatively certain an announcement would come this week; by Wednesday, however, the same people expressed doubt that the board would reach a conclusion.

The lack of a clear direction and uncertainty over who will end up running the museum have stymied additional outsiders from making a firm commitment to help the museum.

“There are a number of people who want to get engaged, if the museum is on a solid footing,” said one person involved in the deliberations over the museum’s future who spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations are in flux. “But no one is going to get engaged if they feel that the people who allowed this to happen are still going to be there.”